Branfireun, Brian

Dr. Branfireun's research group in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto at Mississauga focuses on the hydrological controls on watershed element cycling. Taking a process-based approach, the group investigates the ways in which the magnitude, timing and direction of surface waters and groundwaters govern biogeochemical transformations and chemical transport. Hydrological flowpaths regulate the supply of nutrients and substrate to microbial communities that dominate watershed biogeochemistry; this is particularly true in wetlands, the ecosystem of interest.

Dr. Branfireun has been particularly concerned with the cycling of mercury for the past decade, and the group has undertaken research in boreal watersheds, temperate swamps, Bay of Fundy salt marshes, and peatlands in Minnesota. Most recently, we have been focusing on mercury fate and transport questions in urban watersheds.